Active-management alpha now key to hedge funds’ success, as economies emerge from Covid slump Submitted By Hugh Leask | 18/01/2021 - 4:52pm K2 Advisors, the hedge fund investing unit of Franklin Templeton, says active-management alpha will be critical to hedge funds’ success this year, as the global economy mounts a tentative recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Brooks Ritchey and Robert Christian, co-heads of investment research and management at K2, said the Covid-driven economic slowdown appears to be nearing an end, as individuals and corporations have been able to weather the economic storm partly due to “enormous stimulus” from governments.